Interesting to note that TV Guide for Next Week Sept 29 - Oct. 5 has a pretty complete description of the events of Ep 1. Seems that one of their reporters accompanied the teams from Los Angeles to Salvador, Bahia and gives a good description of the two DETOUR tasks. Included in his description is the "secret" that once the teams climb up the cathedral steps on their knees they must answer the question "how many steps did you climb" (correct answer 53) before they get the directions to the first pit stop.(Picture included) The other task is, as we know, is climbing down the cargo net (picture included). He also describes how the teams must camp out one night with bugs, bugs, bugs interrupting their sleep. He does not say when this happens, so maybe the teams must camp out in the wilderness overnight after arriving from Rio before they can do the tasks the next day. This probably is the case considering the times need for travel and has been a staple of most TARs during the first ep.

Brazil NutOur reporter runs wild in South america on the first leg of the Amazing Race by Craig Tomashoff

It seemed like a good idea at the time: Run a leg of the amazing race to see if Ive been justified all these years yelling at the screen telling the teams of the cbss Emmy winning, continent-hopping reality show how every move they make is a stupid one.I happily volunteered to take a run at the first leg of season 13, Bertram Van Minster and Elise Doganieri promised that from the very first minute, its going to be demanding.. People are going to be very tired and cranky. Going on vacation with 2 kids under the age of 7 is tough, and Ive done that. Anything else has to be a breeze. I meet 11 teams at the starting line inside Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, where theyre honing their strategies to snag $1 million prize. Fraternity brothers Andrew and Dan hope to lure in attractive women, lulling the competition into a false sense of trust that gives us the power when the time is right. Married-but separated Ken & Tina want to keep their special skills ---secret ---especially the survival strategies Tina picked up while stranded on a South Pacific island after a hurricane. Comic bookloving best friends Mark and Bill try to lower expectations, admitting that while some think the race looks easy on TV, this will take amazingly longer than it seems.

Theyre right. This journey of 33,000 miles doesnt begin with a single step. It starts with a seat on the plane  coach classfor much of the next 24 hours. It could be worse :I could be six-foot-plus Ty (racing with girlfriend Aja), who cant fold up enough to fit in his space. Finally we touch down on Salvador, Brazil. As the arriving teams negotiate cab rides into the city to look for their first clue. I take advantage of my gate- crasher status and head straight for the legs first significant Detour challenge, in which teams choose one of two options. Option 1: Climb down a 240-fiit-high rope ladder strung from the top of Salvadors famous Elevator Lacerda. I ride to the top.

Stepping onto the ladder, I treat it like I do when I give blood: Close my eyes and itll be fine . Im able to stick to that for all of five minutes before peeking to see how much further I have to go. Bad idea Im not even halfway down. By the time I reach pavement 20 minutes later, it appears to the locals as though Im so happy to be done that I kneel to kiss the ground. The truth, however ,is that my legs have the consistency of grape jelly and I cant walk.Next I drag myself across town to the other detour option: Climb the stone steps of the 18th-century church on your knees then answer the mystery question. Teams who complete these challenges go onto the pitstop.I channel my inner toddler and crawl right up, even though the knees get so banged up I feel like an NFL quarterback. At the top, the leader of the Brazilian drum band serenading the teams asks  How many steps did you just climb? I pause for a few seconds , trying to make it look good. Then I correctly announce 53! (OK, so earlier in the day Id sneaked a peek at the producers hand book and saw the question and the answer).

Maybe it is the bit of deception or the thrill of the rope climb, but I am even more certain Id been justified in mocking all 11 race teams that have come before me, right up to the moment I meet up with them at their campsite in a bug infested, muddy patch of jungle inside a military base. Everybody has his limits. Many of mine involve insect encounters. Several of the men, like Dallas (running with mom, Toni) and Nick (with his sister, Starr), wander around among the bugs, shirtless and fearless. Texan divorcees/best friends Kelly & Christy brag about the huge tarantula theyve squashed with a shoe. Comic- book guy Mark is already convinced hell never again think the race is too easy.Neither will I. Maybe if I were really in the hunt for the $1 million, Id slip into the mosquito for the night, too. But Im not, so instead I slink off to the air-conditioned hotel comfort of a Salvador hotel, vowing never to disparage any race teams efforts again. Still, I dont want to end my time on the road as a total wimp. I push myself to tough out one last challenge thats really more speed: It turns out the hotel bar doesnt have Chianti. So I settle for Merlot.

so is that kelly/christy & mark/bill climbing down the net in that tvguide photo? do we know who did what - or even if anyone (other than the reporter) actually did do the stair detour? i guess someone must have but i didn't recognize anyone in the photos here - i know i'd give it a miss in favor of the net!

omg I can't wait!!.................................................The sound of excitement!The Amazing Race is nowhere near as thrilling as its scoreDean Robbins on Friday 09/26/2008

The soundtrack makes us think we're having fun. The new season of The Amazing Race (Sunday, 7 p.m., CBS) begins with edge-of-the-seat excitement. Eleven pairs gather in Los Angeles to kick off the race around the world. The host reveals their first destination  Brazil  and they're off! Accompanied by a soundtrack of deafening drums and screeching brass, the pairs jump in their cars and speed off to the airport! But they're slowed by L.A. traffic! And the airline ticket lines are excruciatingly long! Then they endure the endless flight to Brazil as the soundtrack reaches a fever pitch!

Hold on. In reality, there's nothing very exciting about inching forward in traffic, waiting in line and taking a long intercontinental flight. The deafening drums and screeching brass just make us think it's exciting. With that kind of soundtrack, I bet even this blurb would be a heart-pounding thrill ride.

That's odd ...Given the time (late Tuesday morning) and route provided by Chateau, traffic shouldn't have been a problem. Maybe a few minutes are wasted searching for onramps/offramps/ParkOne, but that's about it. Caltrans doesn't have an archive function the way Seattle does, so I can't tell if there was an accident that day.